​Our UUCO Holiday Lovefeast is our traditional 'Tis the Season' worship service. We invite all -- youngest to oldest, visiting guests and favorite neighbors -- to join in!  We will sing the familiar songs of the season, read words from historic texts, share traditional Lovefeast buns and warm cider, and hold aloft our candles at the conclusion of the service. Our offertory will go to help individuals and families in our community.  All are welcome at this multi-generational gathering, which is our own adaptation of the traditional Moravian Lovefeast. 
 
The Lovefeast service is very simple and is focused upon love of humankind: a communal meal is shared in love. Music and readings are offered to support reflection about the meaning of this season of the year. The distinctive feature of the gathering is that sweet rolls and cider are served to the congregation and all hold lighted candles to end the service.  Within the Christian tradition it has been noted that the Lovefeast is not a substitute for the Christian sacrament of communion, rather it is a simple, shared meal.  Many Unitarian Universalist congregations celebrate Lovefeasts at this time of year.  

The original Moravian Lovefeast had its roots in the early Moravian Church.  Once, after a worship service, some Moravians shared a simple meal and were moved by the unity and good will they felt toward one another. This practice soon became a tradition and was called a 'lovefeast.'  Moravian Lovefeasts are still held today to celebrate many occasions of special significance.  Now practiced and adapted in many different faiths, it is a universal celebration and a calming way to engage the holiday season in a participatory and multi-generational service.  
 
Music: The UUCO Chorus, Greg Johnson, Dan Mattern
For All Ages: Mari Kuhnle offers our story
Special Reflection: Rev. Dr. Gail Stratton
Lovefeast Buns:  Luanne Buchanan
Cider, Buns, and Candles Service: Pat Miller, Chris Sapp and Youth Leaders
Offertory:  Four our community, through Interfaith Compassion Ministries
And many more participants!   

As we begin our month of focusing on hope, Cliff Johnson, Director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, will talk about local conditions as well as ways to change the stubbornly persistent relationship between poverty and injustice.  Cliff's background includes a longtime legal career as a civil and criminal lawyer, and as an advocate for poor people in the South.  Cliff also maintains an active association with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lund, Sweden, where he returns each year to work with emerging human rights advocates from around the world.    ​